Oleg Sysuyev, Alfa-bank: TAIF has such great plans that exceed the limits of business events of the republic and Russia

Extremely good client

At the beginning of this year, TAIF-NK launched a campaign on the attraction of bank funds to terminate its construction of the century – the Heavy Residues Deep Conversion Complex whose size and technologies make it one of a kind. The complex is valued at $1,7 billion rubles, and 53% of the sum are TAIF-NK's own funds. For the first time, the building site of the HRDCC has been visited by a serious delegation of Sberbank. In May the petroleum refining company of Nizhnekamsk received representatives from seven large Russian and European banks. Finally, the loan was granted by another bank that is present on the list of Systematically Important Financial Institution of Russia.

TAIF-NK was always interested in the attraction of investors for the realization of the ambitious project on the construction of the unique Heavy Residues Deep Conversion Complex. Given to the company borrowed funds would allow the company to strengthen its margin of safety in order to realize the next strategically important tasks.

The search of financial partners was not too long. It literally took 3 months: the administration of TAIF and TAIF-NK, which is a part of the Group, looked into conditions of several Russian and foreign banks, but in the competitive struggle for the right to grant funds for further construction of the largest petroleum refining complex in Russia Alfa-bank won.

'The signing of the loan agreement between TAIF-NK PJSC and the bank took place 2 weeks ago without any pomposity, buffet, in other words, in business mode,' said Oleg Sysuyev, the first deputy chairman of the board of directors of Alfa-bank, in the interview with a correspondent of Realnoe Vremya. According to the document, the sum of the loan granted by the bank for further realization of the strategically important project of TAIF-NK is equal to $600 million for 5 years. However, Oleg Sysuyev didn't make public other conditions of the loan agreement calling them a trade secret. But he pointed out that money already is at TAIF-NK's disposal.

During the preparation of the document of the loan agreement, the bank paid attention to a number of aspects concerning the activity of the enterprise and, firstly, estimated the degree of risk that possibly could be met. According to Sysuyev, country risk and risk related to the state of the sector and the market or, more precisely, that prices for corresponding products might slump that had happened once in our country. '5 years is the term for the amortization of the loan, and whatever can happen. But we believe that the company has different products, well protected, and it has a management that doesn't spend money on yachts and any foreign eye candies, figuratively speaking, but invests everything in its development. And we know that the company is reliable, it has minimal risks for the realization of the project of the HRDCC,' the first deputy chairman of the board of directors of Alfa-bank concluded.

And Oleg Sysuyev continued saying that, 'In this case, it is an extremely good client. But TAIF-NK has such great plans that exceed the limits of business events of the republic and Russia forming a part of the chain of events that is expected with interest by representatives of the professional business community in the world'.

Know-how in the petrochemistry of Russia

The petroleum refining company, a part of the TAIF Group started the realization of the project on construction of the HRDCC in November 2012. The cornerstone of the future unique complex was ceremoniously laid with the participation of the President of the Republic of Tatarstan. Now almost 70% of building and installation work in the main unit of the complex is over.

A unique technology and volumes of heavy residues conversion form the foundation of the HRDCC – vacuum gas oil and mazut. Neither in Russia nor in the whole world had this system been applied. So here TAIF-NK, in fact, will be a pioneer. The secret of know-how about the technology is in the three powerful reactors where dark petroleum products will be converted into the light ones.

Every year the enterprise processes over 8 million tonnes of petroleum gaining 2,5m tonnes of dark oil products, which account for one-third of the total commodity output. They will be sent to the HRDCC for further conversion into the light products. The major role in this process will be assigned to a special highly porous additive that sucks sulphur or so-called asphaltenes, harmful products meant to be a poison for catalysts that take part in the production of petroleum products.

After a three-stage intensive purification in the VVC unit (Veba Comby Cracking), which will make a record 98%, the product will be exposed to the standard hydrocracking whose end result is profitable light products: naphtha, kerosene, diesel fuel, etc. Their further realization, according to calculations, may double the revenue of TAIF-NK while they will refine the same amount of 8,3m tonnes of petroleum a year.

Business-oriented people

On the eve of that day, there was a meeting with the participation of Albert Shigabutdinov, the director general, and Oleg Sysuyev in the office of the TAIF Group of Companies. As the top manager of the bank noted, they discussed the further collaboration of the largest industrial holding of Tatarstan with Alfa-bank.

Sysuyev said that, to start with, the head of TAIF expressed his gratitude, 'Thank you very much for a very quick and professional solution of the problem because we needed money now. It was so good that you were so fast and honoured our requests'.

According to our interlocutor from Alfa-bank, a meeting with such a partner like TAIF GC and its reaction to a conversation with banks in this uneasy crisis period for the economy of the country is a kind of dissonance. 'Furthermore, we saw absolutely positive people who think about the future, the strategy, and they are ready to work with us in other strategic projects. To tell the truth, I personally was charged with positive energy after our talk as well as my colleagues who were at the meeting. I'm very glad to have signed the agreement and met with such wonderful business-oriented people,' Oleg Sysuyev said to our correspondent in the interview.

Many other more difficult infrastructural projects related to logistics and other top aspects for the enterprises of the Group of Companies (Nizhnekamskneftekhim, Kazanorgsintez and TGC-16), were mentioned during the meeting in TAIF, according to Oleg Sysuyev. As he stated, Alfa-bank expressed its interest in participation in the realization of projects as a bank partner, though competitiveness, in Oleg's opinion, is expected to be high.

'We are interested in working with such companies'

The experience of the collaboration of Alfa-bank with the business of Tatarstan is wide: it worked with enterprises of defence sectors, energy and retail companies. But, in Oleg Sysuyev's view, the loan agreement with TAIF-NK is one of the big deals, taking into account today's realias.

Answering the question of why the petroleum refining company had attracted the bank, the top-manager of Alfa-bank replied that, 'TAIF works in a fundamental sector of the economy of Russia, and it will always be in demand on the market: manufacturing products of mineral resources deep conversion, i.e. petroleum. And, without any doubt, it is an attractive company'.

However, as Oleg Sysuyev shared, during the preparation of the multimillion loan deal, they paid attention to the administration of the company, the quality of its management, and, indubitably, its shareholders who wouldn't escape nor leave Tatarstan and Russia, on the contrary, who would happily live, work and develop here. This is why it is no coincidence that both the holding and TAIF-NK participate in the development of social projects like charity and sponsorship, in Sysyuev's opinion, prove the fact that, 'the company is going to work here, and, in this case, we are interested in work with such companies that have a very clear strategic outlook.'